Now that I have a lot more time on my hands, I’m returning to my old past time of reading. Since middle school, my favorite genre has been historical fiction, because I’ve always been a bit of a history nerd. Imagine my elation when I discovered a reading challenge for historical fiction and non-fiction history books!

This challenge is created and led by Passages to the Past. The rules as per the website are quoted below:

Here are the Reading Challenge details:

Each month, a new post dedicated to the HF Challenge will be created. To participate, you only have to follow the rules:
-Everyone can participate, even those who don’t have a blog (you can add your book title and thoughts in the comment section if you wish)
-Add the link(s) of your review(s) including your name and book title to the Mister Linky we’ll be adding to our monthly post (please, do not add your blog link, but the correct address that will guide us directly to your review)
-Any sub-genre of historical fiction is accepted (Historical Romance, Historical Mystery, Historical Fantasy, Young Adult, etc.)

During the following 12 months you can choose one of the different reading levels:

20th century Reader – 2 books
Victorian Reader – 5 books
Renaissance Reader – 10 books
Medieval – 15 books
Ancient History – 25 books
Prehistoric – 50+ books

To join the challenge you only need to make a post about it, add your link in Mr. Linky or just leave a link to your blog if you are not yet ready to post about it yet. If you don’t have a blog you can just leave a comment for this post saying that you are joining.

The challenge runs from January 1st to December 31st, 2017.

I look forward to having you join me in reading and enjoying the best in historical fiction over the 12 months.

Please share about the Reading Challenge to your fellow friends and readers using the hashtag below!

#2017HFReadingChallenge

My goal this year is to get to the Medieval Level (15+ books). This may be stretching it, but I’m going to try! And if the year is going really well, I may revise that goal. I will keep track of my progress on this page and post links to my reviews on my blog once I’ve written them. (I don’t always write reviews, but there will be links if I do.) A good chunk of these books aren’t historical fiction, but they are still historical and therefore count as part of the challenge!

1. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
2. The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
3. The Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coehlo (this may be a stretch for some, but I believe the Bible is truth; therefore, this alternate telling of part of the prophet Elijah’s life is historical fiction.)
4. Secrets She Kept by Cathy Gohlke
5. Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
6. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
7. Girl at War by Sara Novic
8. Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich
9. Ravensbruck: Life and Death in Hitler’s Concentration Camp for Women by Sarah Helm
10. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
11. America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie
12. The Winter Fortress by Neal Bascomb
13. We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
14. Beneath A Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan
15. The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
16. The Plantagenets by Dan Jones
17. The Wars of the Roses by Dan Jones
18. How To Stop Time by Matt Haig
19. Washington’s Spies by Alexander Rose
20. Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow
21. 1776 by David McCullough
22. John Adams by David McCullough
23. George Washington’s Secret Six by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger
24. Adopted Son by David A. Clary
25. The Drillmaster of Valley Forge by Paul Lockhart
26. Washington’s Secret War by Thomas Fleming
27. A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier by Joseph Plumb Martin
28. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham
29. My Dearest Friend: Letters Of Abigail and John Adams by Abigail and John Adams